North Gwinnett wins again with coin toss

By Michael Carvell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

North Gwinnett, ranked No. 2 in Class AAAAA, won its playoff game Friday night, but arguably had a bigger win Saturday morning.

The Bulldogs won a coin toss to earn the right to host their quarterfinals game against Camden County, the reigning state champions. The coin toss was required because both teams were No. 1 seeds.

How big was the coin toss? The loser has to make a seven-hour trip to the other school.

"That's pretty nice, with Thursday being Thanksgiving," North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire said. "If we had to play at Camden, we were going to leave late in the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day. It's always great to play at home, but especially in a holiday week."

Pass-happy offenses converge

It will be "Teacher vs. Pupil" when Colquitt County plays at Lassiter on Friday. Chip Lindsey served as offensive coordinator under Rush Propst at Alabama's Hoover High for the 2007 season. The following year, Lindsey took the top job at Lassiter, while Propst moved to Colquitt.

This is the first game between the two coaches, although Colquitt had a 24-14 lead over Lassiter in an August scrimmage that was stopped by lightning.

Both coaches use pass-happy spread offenses, with Lassiter scoring 62 and 70 points in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

"I had been running that offense a couple of years before going to Hoover, but I learned a lot from [Propst] ... little things to tweak it, how it fits in the total package of running a program, stuff like that," Lindsey said.

What should we expect Friday? "I don't know," Lindsay said. "Those offenses can make for a lot of fun. I would think there are going to be a lot of fireworks."

Rough night for DeKalb teams

DeKalb County took a big hit Friday when six of seven schools were knocked out of the playoffs, with the biggest shocker being Clarke Central's 19-17 upset over Southwest DeKalb, which was ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA.

M.L. King, Stephenson, Tucker, Marist, and Dunwoody also were eliminated, while St. Pius had a 17-3 win over North Hall in Class AAA.

Southwest's Ken Malcome, who is one of the nation's top tailbacks and has committed to Georgia, suffered a broken collarbone during the loss, while Marques Dixon -- arguably the team's most explosive offensive weapon -- was hindered by the flu.

Camden wins 'shocker'

Camden County held on to beat Lowndes 10-7 in Friday's most heavily anticipated playoff game. Camden got possession of the ball with 9:11 left in the fourth quarter and ran the clock out for the win.

"It's a shocker," Camden coach Jeff Herron told the Valdosta Times. "I told people ... we couldn't have penalties or turnovers, and we did a good job of that tonight."

Adding to the record

Lassiter's Hutson Mason added to his state record for passing yards in a season in Friday's 70-49 win over South Gwinnett. Mason completed 32 of 39 passes for 552 yards and eight touchdowns with one interception. He has passed for 4,266 yards, with at least one game left to play, perhaps as many as three.

Virginia and Kentucky scouted Mason on Friday, while Mississippi State appears to be the most serious.